POST OFFICE DEMOLITION BEGINS; RELATED SEWER DEAL CLOSE TO DONE

The demolition of the former Maplewood Village Post Office began Wednesday as announced.

The area around the location has also seen parking restrictions and other construction disruptions that were expected

See the Township's notice on the impact and timeline HERE and get ready for months of less parking and more traffic interruptions.

When the dust settles, there will be a new three-story, 20 apartment, five-retail shop complex being built by JMF Properties.

In a related matter, Township Attorney Roger Desiderio told the Township Committee on Tuesday night that they are close to finalizing an agreement to extend a lease with the owners of several buildings along Maplewood Avenue and a new agreement.

That is needed to run a new sewer line under the parking lot behind their locations, from Village Coffee to Arturo's, to handle the excess sewage from the new building.

Desiderio said "everything has been sent out, everything has been drafted. I'm hopeful that within the next two weeks we are going to be able to wrap it up. We're getting close."

The Township currently leases the parking lot from those owners and had discussed buying it. That lease ended in March and Mayor Vic Deluca said the Township is negotiating to extend the leases to July 2017, but then look at long-term options after the upcoming town-wide property tax reassessment is completed .